North-east council boss apologises for delayed payments

A north-east council boss has apologised to customers who access sports and leisure facilities through a scheme after payments failed to be taken from thousands of accounts.

Around 2,000 Active Aberdeenshire customers have been affected by a computer glitch and will receive a letter this week requesting that they make alternative arrangements for paying their monthly membership fee.

Some customers who pay for their Active Aberdeenshire accounts by direct debit have not had their payments taken this month due to the software failure.

Head of lifelong learning and leisure John Harding apologised to affected customers. He said: “We are working with the software supplier to discover why some payments were taken this month, and others weren’t, so we can put in place steps to prevent it happening in the future.

“I’m very sorry for the disruption caused and ask customers to respond to the letters they will receive next week regarding payment arrangements.”

The Active Aberdeenshire scheme makes it easier and cheaper for customers to use sports and leisure facilities run by Aberdeenshire Council.